Former NBA star and Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal had a recent interview with the NBA and paid his respect to all-time great, Patrick Ewing.

In the interview, Shaq had this to say,

“My father always said I'm gonna make you like Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, and Wilt Chamberlain… One day I was watching Patrick Ewing at Georgetown… I said dad I want to be like him… So I'm watching Patrick Ewing, he wore #33, as I became better I wanted to be like Patrick Ewing. He was the first guy when I played against him I was actually intimidated.”

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Photo: Boban Marjanovic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shaquille O’Neal

Derick Quinanola ·

Both of them are two of the most talented big man to ever play the game. They both impacted the game greatly and were big reasons for their team's success. Both Shaq and Ewing played in big markets as they were fan favorites in Los Angeles and New York City.

Although Patrick Ewing had one of the best careers that a big man can possibly have, Shaq is arguably the greatest big man of all time. He had some dominant stats throughout his career and in his career, he averaged 23 points 7 points per game with 10.9 rebounds. They're both two of the most dominant players that the game has ever seen and it makes sense that we saw Shaq play the way we did if he was a big fan of Ewing growing up.